The American Express Open Forum recently released a study on Women-owned businessess across the country and ranked the best states for women to own a business in. The states were measured by the growth of women-owned business and in overall economic clout. The data was measured from 1997 to 2012.
In all of the United States, the number of women-owned business has increased by 54% - a rate of 1 ½ times the national average. Here are the best and worst states:
Five Best States
- Washington, DC
- Nevada
- Wyoming
- Arizona
- North Dakota
Five Worst States
- Iowa
- Ohio
- Vermont
- Rhode Island
- Maine
The report also contained some interesting information on industry trends. The fastest growing industries for women-owned business:
- Construction
- Retail Trade
- Finance & Insurance
- Real Estate
- Professional/Scientific/Technical Services
Note that these are the fastest-growing, but the largest industries for women-owned business are still Health Care, Education and Retail Trade.
While women-owned firms remain smaller on average, this report shows that they have been performing much better than all privately held firms – not only in growth but also in revenue and employment.
We encourage you to read the rest of the report, it is very insightful.
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